Fri. Oct. 3, 2025: Residency Day 1

poster for our reading

Friday, October 3, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Sunny, cool, and then warm

Meditation was good yesterday morning, with the Concord group. Charlotte was delighted. She had an anxiety attack earlier in the morning, so it was good for her.

I dug into the final fiddly bits on the ghostwriting assignment and a final polish/proofing pass. I got it out the door at 11:49 – a little later than I hoped, but I got it out the door.

A nap would have been a good choice then, but I had lunch, packed the car, and drove it down to the Studio. I unloaded my bags, greeting the studio manager and the two fellow poets who arrived shortly after I did. I drove over to the residency apartment, hauled my stuff up the stairs in one go (not my best decision of the day), brought the car back home, and walked back to the studio.

It was a lovely day for a walk, unseasonably warm. I love to look up at the mountains all around the town. It’s so pretty. It’s a different kind of appreciation when one walks.

Got back to the studio and started setting up, moving things around, adding a table for the sewing machine, setting up the wellness corner with the yoga mat, meditation cushion, etc., unpacking my books, setting up my writing table, and putting up some of my images. I like visually stimulating spaces! I’m in the same studio as I was last year, so it’s comfy and familiar. This is a photo of what it looked like when I walked in. I will post a photo next week of how I set it up to work.

I still have some more images to set up, and some fabric swatches to pin up to the wall. While I plan to work on the large version of “The Human Compass” I am also planning the piece for the January show. I want to see if any of the swatches I currently own will fit that vision, or if I have to source.

We headed over to the apartments as a group, and helped each other unload and carry things up. The apartments are on the third floor, and the stairs are steep.

I just hit a wall then. I “took to my bed” – well, I was lying on the bed, looking out the window at the mountain, thinking, “if I want to, I can just lie here and look at mountains.” That’s what I did for about twenty minutes, along with drinking water. I hadn’t realized how dehydrated I was.

Went back to the studio, did some more setting up and settling in. Returned to the apartment to chat with my flat mate and hang out, before we all headed over to Public for dinner.  Food and conversation were good. Some of us came back to the apartment and hung out for a while, and then bed.

I woke up 2 minutes before my alarm went off at 5 this morning. I debated whether to stay in bed or get going, but figured since I was up, I might as well get to work. My flat mate was awake, too, and kept me company for breakfast.

I was in my studio a little after 6. It was too soon after eating to do my morning yoga session, but I did my meditation and my 15-minute writing session.

The bulk of the morning today will be about getting things printed and put aside for tomorrow’s reading. After our workshop this afternoon, I will head home, bake the last item for tomorrow, and check on everything at home. I have to come back downtown for First Friday tonight, for at least a little bit of the Future Labs opening.

I’ll load up the car Very Early in the Morning and come down for a few hours’ of studio time tomorrow, then head up to the library. We will set up for our reading, the reading starts at 11, when it’s over and we’ve sold books, I will pack everything up and head back to MoCA for lunch. After lunch, I will take the car (and the dishes from the refreshments) back home, and leave the car. Hopefully my spot won’t have been appropriated during those few hours I’m gone. If it has, I’ll use my parking permit for MoCA and try to get the car back Sunday or Monday into its slot.

Once the reading is over and the car is back in its slot, I’ll walk back down to the studio, and then I can settle in until it’s time to leave midweek next week.

I keep changing my mind on what I want to work on, so I’ll just see what flows.

I came up with two possible lines of a new poem this morning during the 15-minute writing session, so I want to see where those go.

And there will be napping involved, especially once I get back tomorrow afternoon. It’s supposed to be in the high 70s and low 80s F the next few days. I’ll pick up some lighter shirts when I go home tonight. I packed all sweaters.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!